Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the major cereal crops grown in Ethiopia; and majority of the produce is used for home consumption. Although the country has considerable number of breweries, malt barley produced locally has been by far low in quantity and quality compared with the potential requirement by the factories. As to contribute to the attempts being carried out in order to narrow the gap between supply and demand of malt barley, the current study was initiated to evaluate and demonstrate four malt barley varieties namely EH1847, IBON 174/03, Holker and Bekoji in Doyogena and Soddo Zuria districts at each on six farmers’ fields. Farmers evaluated and ranked the varieties using their own criteria in each district accordingly and grain yield was subjected to statistical analysis using SAS software and the analysis of variance indicated that a variety EH1847 was ranked first in Doyogena by farmers due to its better performance based on selection criteria used. The same variety had superior average grain yield, 3550 kg/ha, in the same district. However, this variety was highly depressed in Soddo Zuria. Variety IBON 174/03 gave maximum average grain yield of 1500 kg/ha in Soddo Zuria. From the current study we recommend EH1847 for further dissemination in Doyogena and the like agro-ecologies. Although all varieties didn’t show potential productivity at Soddo Zuria, we recommend IBON 174/03 to this district besides assessing the other new and better varieties for the district.

Keywords: Barley; Grain yield; Farmer ’ s preference; Hordeum vulgare